Has anyone for a minute this season thought – “DAMN, I can’t BELIEVE they gave up Jackie Butler.” I seem to remember people tearing their hair out over that decision in the preseason.

]]>By: confuciushttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/new-year-blues/#comment-46244
Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:53:23 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=448#comment-46244Paul
T.E.A.M.
Together Each Achieve More.
Playing them( Curry, Jeffries, Frye) as a unit will overcome their individual stats. I am indifferent to Lee starting. He is getting the minutes and he is usually on the court in the fourth quarter. Frye is not an energy player so I dont see him coming off the bench. Frye did have the 20 ft jumper going last year. The injury has set him back some. In all the Curry-Jeffries-Frye line-up have not played that many games together.
That front-line averages 6-11 and they are creating mismatches in other areas of the game. Rebounding is on stat in many.

Frye and Lee are second year players. Let us examine them in year 4 or 5 of their career before we sign off or judge these guys.

I wouldn’t trade Lee for anything in this world. He is starting to hit his little jump shot and I know he can improve on defense. He can improve his defense by knowing his opponent. Know who is more likely to stop and pop, who is more likely dribble penetrate, where they like to shoot from and so on.
At this point in his career, Mardy Collins is not a shooter. Don’t know, which player you have been observing.

Jeffries is trying too hard to impress you skeptical New York fans. Once he settles into his role( rebounding and defense) we will excel.

Re: last night name against Seattle. Not impressed. I want to see that against quality ( for me that is any team above .500 ) opponent. I want a 7,8,9 game winning streak.

i must rebut on your points regarding the knicks, however. Curry is a weak rebounding center. Frye is a weak rebounding power forward. Jeffries is a weak rebounding small forward. Starting all three together leads to an obvious mismatch on the boards at both ends, despite whatever else is occurring.

i know lee has a way to go developing a jumper on offense and footspeed on defense. His defensive prowess will be heightened by playing him at power forward, where his relative quickness and work ethic will lead to outstanding rebound rates, offensive rebound putbacks, and fast break layups.

Frye coming off the bench in relief of Curry means that he becomes the focus of the offense in the low post, where he is the most comfortable in a half court offense. The dude is just not a bail-out 20-foot jumpshooter now, which is what he needs to be as a starter alongside Eddy Curry.

Starting Lee and having Frye back up both him & Curry (hopefully to the exclusion of lessers like Cato, James, Balkman, Jeffries, etc) will put both youngsters in roles where they can thrive, albeit in reverse order of their draft position.

Finally….not to be TOO cynical about things, but we Knicks fans need to be cut-throats at this stage of the game, sad as we are the past few seasons….it is in our best interest to maximize the trade potential of Lee, because in some smaller markets, a productive Caucasian player is worth far more than a similarly productive player of color who plays the same position. i’m not saying we could trade Lee + Marbury + #1 pick in a year for KG….i’m just sayin’, yo…..we need to thrive!

P.S. Illmatic: i don’t have to admit that Craw is not a bad point. i do indeed admit that against certain matchups, he can and should be asked to play point. Doing it as a starter would be horrible, however IMHO.

P.P.S. Contrary to scuttlebutt suggesting we should hire Ewing as a coach for Eddy, i think we should hire Oakley for that job. Oak will cave Eddy’s chest in when he plays soft in practice, and i am beginning to think that is what he needs.

P.P.P.S. Mardy Collins can shoot – he just doesn’t have three point range yet. Give him a chance….Isiah knows talent.

P.P.P.P.S. How glad would all of us be right now if we had either Trevor Ariza OR Matt Barnes right now instead of Jared Jeffries? Oh, and Qyntel….holla at ya dog yo!

]]>By: Hudson Riverhttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/new-year-blues/#comment-46192
Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:48:53 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=448#comment-46192Confucius, for the good of the Knicks we shouldn’ play Nate if we don’t think hes polished, his age doesn’t matter. I do think he should get occasional minutes with Jamal in the backcourt, they play well together.

Illmatic- Would you really put Marbury on the bench after his recent play? Would you also put Jared Jefferies at SG? He might be able to guard a shooting guard in the future but for now hes off and he can’t hit a jumper from the paint. He can’t help out on the press, and is way to turnover prone to play in the backcourt, his TOs would only increase.

The way i see it. Alot of people are confusing rebounding with defense. David Lee is an extraordinary rebounder but a great defender he is not. ideally you want someone who has a chance of blocking some shots out there at the 4 spot, rite ?

and really whats the big deal with coming off the bench. David Lee is as quick as any pf in the game. i think its better to bring him in when the opposing starter pf is just alil bit tired to wear him down some more.

]]>By: confuciushttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/new-year-blues/#comment-46155
Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:15:43 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=448#comment-46155David Lee has put some impressive stats, but he is not the Knicks best player. Most consistent? Yes, but not the best payer. He is one deminensional and needs to develop his perimeter shot and his defense. If he improved his defense I can easily see him playing 40 mins a game.

The decision is not an easy one to make, else it would have been made already.

Whilst we wait for Channing Frye ( does not rebound averaging 5.7 RPG should be around 8 or 9) to mature I say
5. Eddie Curry
4. David Lee
3. Jarod Jeffries
2. Q
1. Marbury or Crawford
Subs Balkman, Kato/Rose, Robinson ( give the kid a break – remember how polished you were at 21). Mardy Collins cannot shoot. Interestingly enough, when Nate come back I expect him to be taking many open 3 pts and unlike Jamaal, he will hit his shots. Maybe then you will like him.

]]>By: PaulNoizehttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/new-year-blues/#comment-46101
Fri, 05 Jan 2007 14:44:07 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=448#comment-46101Lee is a power forward, not a wing. He’s been our best player. We’re a bad team. This is an easy decision.

Start Lee at power forward, play him 35 minutes a night and figure out where everyone else fits in with the frontcourt rotation.

Playing Lee any extended minutes at the 3 will take him away from the basket, expose his lack of footspeed defensively and sap his energy for offensive rebounding. Keep him at the 4, use Channing to back up him & Curry.

JJ is our best option at 3. i wouldn’t mind using Balkman at 3 when Frye plays center to help shore up our rebounding. Q should backup the 2 & 3 when healthy. When not healthy, i think Mardy should be the third guard. Squeeze Francis, Nate, Cato, James out of the rotation. Less is more.

]]>By: Count Zerohttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/new-year-blues/#comment-45970
Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:57:55 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=448#comment-45970I can see both sides of the Lee issue as well. But on paper, it’s a tough case. Statistically, Lee looks like the best player on this team.